The two Chinese characters "西安" in the name Xi'an mean "Western Peace". During the Zhou dynasty, the area was the site of the national capital, which is a twin-city named Fenghao (豐鎬) on the two banks of the Feng River near the confluence with the Wei River, with the part on the west bank of the Feng River called Fengjing (豐京; "Feng capital") and the portion on the east called Haojing (鎬京; "Hao capital").[10] It was renamed Chang'an (meaning "perpetual peace") during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), although it was sometimes referred to as Xijing (西京; "western capital") during the Eastern Han dynasty after the capital was relocated to Luoyang in the east . It changed to Daxing (大興; "great prosperity") in 581 AD during the Sui dynasty, then again became Chang'an from 618 during the Tang dynasty. During the Yuan dynasty (1270–1368), the city was first given the name Fengyuan (奉元), followed by Anxi (安西) then Jingzhao (京兆).

It finally became Xi'an in 1369 at the time of the Ming dynasty. This name remained until 1928, then in 1930 it was renamed Xijing (西京), or "western capital". The city's name once again reverted to its Ming-era designation of Xi'an in 1943.

Xi'an currently does not have a widely accepted one-character abbreviation as many other Chinese cities do, possibly due to fact that it was historically called Jing (京) or Du (都), both meaning "the capital".[dubious– discuss] Several suggested abbreviations include Feng (丰, the city's first name when it was founded as the new capital of Zhou, meaning abundance, greatness, and bumper harvest), Hao (Chinese: 镐; pinyin: Hào, derived from the name of Zhou dynasty's capital Haojing), or Tang (Chinese: 唐; pinyin: Táng, from the name of the Tang dynasty).

Xi'an has rich and culturally significant history. The Lantian Man was discovered in 1963 in Lantian County, 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Xi'an, and dates back to at least 500,000 years before the present time. A 6,500-year-old BanpoNeolithic village was discovered in 1953 on the eastern outskirts of the city proper, which contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements carbon dated to 5600–6700 years ago.[11][12][13][14] The site is now home to the Xi'an Banpo Museum, built in 1957 to preserve the archaeological collection.[15]

Xi'an became a cultural and political centre of China in the 11th century BC with the founding of the Zhou dynasty. The capital of Zhou was established in the twin settlements of Fengjing (丰京) and Haojing, together known as Fenghao, located southwest of contemporary Xi'an. The settlement was also known as Zhōngzhōu to indicate its role as the capital of the vassal states.[16] In 770 BC, the capital was moved to Luoyang due to political unrest.[17] Following the Warring States period, China was unified under the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) for the first time, with the capital located at Xianyang, just northwest of modern Xi'an.[18] The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Terracotta Army and his mausoleum just to the east of Xi'an almost immediately after his ascension to the throne.[19][20]

In 202 BC, the founding emperor Liu Bang of the Han dynasty established his capital in Chang'an County; his first palace, Changle Palace (長樂宮, perpetual happiness) was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an, or Xi'an. Two years later, Liu Bang built Weiyang Palace (未央宮, (perpetual happiness) hasn't reached its midpoint yet) north of modern Xi'an. Weiyang Palace was the largest palace ever built on Earth, covering 4.8 square kilometres (1,200 acres), which is 6.7 times the size of the current Forbidden City, or 11 times the size of the Vatican City.[21] The original Xi'an city wall was started in 194 BC and took 4 years to finish. Upon completion, the wall measured 25.7 km (15.97 mi) in length and 12 to 16 m (39.37–52.49 ft) in thickness at the base, enclosing an area of 36 km2 (13.90 sq mi). In the year 190, amidst uprisings and rebellions just prior to the Three Kingdoms Period, a powerful warlord named Dong Zhuo moved the court from Luoyang to Chang'an in a bid to avoid a coalition of other powerful warlords against him.

Following several hundred years of unrest, the Sui dynasty united China again in 582. The emperor of Sui ordered a new capital to be built southeast of the Han capital, called Daxing (大興, great prosperity). It consisted of three sections: the Imperial City, the palace section, and the civilian section, with a total area of 84 km2 (32 sq mi) within the city walls. At the time, it was the largest city in the world. The city was renamed Chang'an (長安, Perpetual Peace or Eternal Peace) by the Tang Dynasty.[22] In the mid-7th century, after returning from his pilgrimage to India, Buddhist monk Xuanzang (popularly known as Tang Sanzang) established a translation centre for Sanskrit scriptures.

Construction of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda began in 652. This pagoda was 64 m (209.97 ft) in height, and was built to store the translations of Buddhist sutras obtained from India by Xuanzang. In 707, construction of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda began. This pagoda measured 45 m (147.64 ft) tall at the time of completion, and was built to store the translations of Buddhist sutras by Yijing. The massive 1556 Shaanxi earthquake eventually damaged the tower and reduced its height to 43.4 m (142.39 ft).[23]

Chang'an was devastated at the end of the Tang dynasty in 904. Residents were forced to move to the new capital city in Luoyang. Only a small area in the city continued to be occupied thereafter. During the Ming dynasty, a new wall was constructed in 1370 and remains intact to this day. The wall measures 11.9 km (7.4 mi) in circumference, 12 m (39.37 ft) in height, and 15 to 18 m (49.21–59.06 ft) in thickness at the base; a moat was also built outside the walls. The new wall and moat would protect a much smaller city of 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi).

The city borders the northern foot of the Qin Mountains (Qinling) to the south, and the banks of the Wei River to the north. Hua Shan, one of the five sacred Taoist mountains, is located 100 km (62 mi) away to the east of the city. Not far to the north is the Loess Plateau.

At the beginning of Han dynasty, Prime Minister Zhang Liang advised the emperor Liu Bang to choose Guanzhong as the capital of the Han dynasty: 'Guanzhong Plain, which is located behind Xiao Pass and Hangu Pass, connects Long (Gansu) and Shu (Sichuan). Land of thousands miles and rich in harvest can be found here, as if this place is belongs to the nation of the heaven.' (《关中左崤函，右陇蜀，沃野千里，此所谓金城千里，天府之国也》) Since then, Guanzhong is also known as the 'Nation of the Heaven'.[27]

The Shaanxi Astronomical Observatory was established in 1966. In 1975, according to the Geodetic Origin Report of the People's Republic of China, 'in order to avoid bias in the mensuration as much as possible, the Geodetic Origin would be in central mainland China.' Lintong (临潼), a town near Xi'an was chosen. Since 1986, Chinese Standard Time (CST) was set from NTSC. The NTSC in Lintong is 36 km (22 mi) away from Xi'an.

National Time Service Centre (NTSC), the Chinese Academy of Sciences is an institute which is mainly engaged in the service and research on time and frequency. NTSC takes charge of generating and maintaining the national standard time scale, disseminating the time and frequency signals. The autonomous standard time scales of universal time and atomic time and the dissemination techniques with LF radio and HF radio were established successively during the 1970s and 1980s, which meet all the requirements for different applications on the whole, such as the scientific researches, national economy, etc.[28]

Xi'an has a temperate climate that is influenced by the East Asian monsoon, classified under the Köppen climate classification as situated on the borderline between a semi-arid climate (BSk) and humid subtropical climate (Cwa). The Wei River valley is characterised by hot, humid summers, cold, dry winters, and dry springs and autumns. Most of the annual precipitation is delivered from July to late October. Snow occasionally falls in winter but rarely settles for long. Dust storms often occur during March and April as the city rapidly warms up. Summer months also experience frequent but short thunderstorms. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from around the freezing mark in January to 27.0 °C (80.6 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 14.08 °C (57.3 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 31 percent in December to 47 percent in August, the city receives 1,536 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −20.6 °C (−5 °F) on 11 January 1955 to 41.8 °C (107 °F) on 21 June 1998. A highest record of 42.9 °C (109 °F) was registered in another station on 17 June 2006.[29][30]

By the end of 2012, Xi'an had a population of 8.55 million.[32] Compared to the census data from 2000, the population has increased by 656,700 persons from 7.41 million.[32] The population is 51.66 percent male and 48.34 percent female.[32] Among its districts, Yanta has the largest population, with 1.08 million inhabitants.[32]

The majority of Xi'an residents are Han Chinese, who make up 99.1 percent of the city's total population. There are around 81,500 people belonging to ethnic minorities living in Xi'an, including 50,000 Hui people.[citation needed]

During World War II, Xi'an became a destination for many refugees from other provinces of China, especially neighboring Henan Province. Because Xi'an was far inland, the invading Japanese army only managed a few aerial assaults on the city. As a result, Xi'an suffered minimal destruction. After 1949, the national government tried to balance the development in different regions of China, and relocated a number of factories and universities from other cities to Xi'an. Modern Xi'an Jiaotong University was relocated from its original campus in Shanghai.

Xi'an has many areas that are easily accessible on foot. In many commercial, residential, educations zones in the city, especially in the shopping and entertainment districts around the Bell Tower, underpasses and overpasses have been built for the safety and convenience of pedestrians. However, although rare, sidewalks will not support pedestrians due to sinkholes.[38]

Electric bikes are popular[citation needed] among students and offer easy transportation in and around the city for many residents. Taxi services are numerous but many citizens of Xi'an still commute to work on one of about 280 bus routes. There are more than 2 million registered automobiles [39] in Xi'an, so cars play a very important role in people's daily life, which also means frequent traffic jams.

Line 2, running through the city from north (North Railway Station) to south (Weiqu Nan), was the first opened to the public on September 16, 2011.[40] Operations began on 28 September 2011.[40][41] This line is 19.9 kilometres (12.4 miles) long with 17 stations.[42] Line 1 opened on 15 September 2013. As a west-east railway, its 19 stations connects Houweizhai and Fangzhicheng. Construction of Xi'an Metro's Line 3 broke ground in May 2011[43] and is set to finish in 2015.

The rest are planned to be finished around 2020. When completed, the system will span 251.8 km (156.5 mi); it will mainly service the urban and suburban districts of Xi'an municipality and part of Xianyang City.[44]

On 30 December 2008, a fire accident occurred that was extinguished within an hour and all workers evacuated safely. Sixty six hours later, on 2 January, another fire occurred at another station on Line 2.[46]

Taxis in Xi'an are predominantly BYD Auto made in Xi'an. Most, if not all, taxis in Xi'an run on compressed natural gas. For the taxis' fare, during the 06:00-23:00,¥9/2 kilometres (1.2 miles) for the fare fall and ¥2.3/Km later, at night ¥10 for the fare fall and ¥2.7/Km later.

Xi'an Railway Station covers 597,000 square metres (6,430,000 square feet), has 5 passenger platforms, and 24 tracks. It provides 112 services to 80 000 people daily. Among the destinations served by direct trains from Xi'an are Beijing, Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Baoji, and Mount Hua. China Railway High-speed 2 now run an express services from Xi'an to Baoji and Xi'an to Zhengzhou; with a total running time to Baoji of under 90 minutes, and 2 hours to Zhengzhou. The Zhengzhou–Xi'an High-Speed Railway also serves Xi'an. Construction work began on September 25, 2005, the railway opened for service on February 6, 2010.[50][51][52] The railway has made air service between Zhengzhou and Xi'an uncompetitive. All passenger flights between the two cities were suspended within 48 days of start of regular high-speed rail service.[53]

Xi'an currently has three ring road systems, the Second Ring road and the Third Ring road which encircle the city. These ring roads are similar to freeways, except where there are traffic signals on the Second Ring road.

As a tourist city, Xi'an has built expressways to Lintong, Tongchuan and Baoji, with well-maintained roads to famous scenic spots in suburban counties and to the north slope of the Qin Mountains. Since its construction in September 2007, the Xi'an–Hanzhong Expressway connects Hanzhong and Xi'an through the Qinling.

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (airport code: XIY) is the major airport serving the city and it is the largest airport in the northwestern part of China. It is 41 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Xi'an city centre, and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of the centre of Xianyang.[54]China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines are the main airlines using the airport. Terminal 3 and the second runway were opened on 3 May 2012.[55]

International Routes: There are direct flights from Xi'an to many major cities in Asia, including Bangkok, Busan, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Male, Osaka, Sapporo, Singapore and Seoul and Taipei. First direct route between Xi'an and Europe was launched by Finnair on 14 June 2013. There are 3 three frequencies per week via Helsinki hub to many major cities in Europe during the summer season. United Airlines begun non-stop service to San Francisco since May, 2016.

Germany's Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, has paid 490 million yuan to obtain a 24.5 percent stake in the Xianyang International Airport, offering opportunities to upgrade and expand the facility.

Figures along the Airport Express highway leading to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport

On 6 June 1994, China Northwest AirlinesFlight 2303 broke up in mid-air and crashed near Xi'an, en route to Guangzhou from Xian.[56][57] A maintenance error was responsible. All 160 people on board died. As of 2016[update], it remains the deadliest airplane crash ever to occur in mainland China.[58]

The culture of Xi'an descends from one of the world's earliest civilizations. The Guanzhong Ren (simplified Chinese: 关中人; traditional Chinese: 關中人; pinyin: Guānzhōng rén) culture is considered the cultural antecedent of Xi'anese; their features are satirized as the "Ten Strangenesses of Guanzhong Ren" (simplified Chinese: 关中十大怪; traditional Chinese: 關中十大怪; pinyin: Guānzhōng shí dà guài). Xi'an is also known for the "Eight Great Sights of Chang'an" (simplified Chinese: 长安八景; traditional Chinese: 長安八景; pinyin: Cháng'ān bājǐng), a collection of scenic areas in the region.

Much like Beijing 798 and Shanghai 1933, Xi'an has an art district called Textile Town (Chinese: 纺织城; pinyin: Fǎngzhī chéng). The district is not an actual town but derives its name from the many textile factories built there since the 1950s.[59] Today it is no longer a centre for the textile industry but a new art factory with 4 workshops in total. Since March 2007, more than 40 artists have taken a part in these workshops.[citation needed]

Qinqiang (Voice of Qin) is the oldest and most extensive of the four major types of Chinese opera.[62] Also called "random pluck" (Chinese: 乱弹; pinyin: Luàntán), Qinqiang is the main type of drama in Shaanxi province.[63] As the earliest ancestor of Beijing Opera, Yu Opera, Chuan Opera and Hebei Opera, Qinqiang has developed its own system of unique vocal music, spoken parts, facial makeup, posture, role, category and acting. It can be traced to Xi Qinqiang (Chinese: 西秦腔; pinyin: Xi qínqiāng; literally: "Voice of West Qin") in Qin dynasty, and blossomed until Qing dynasty, with direct influences on many branches of Chinese Opera.[64]

Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei are directors from Xi'an. Xi'an is also the only city in China to win the Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival) twice. The first film is Red Sorghum and the second one is Tuya's Marriage. They are produced by Xi'an Filmmaking Factory (now called Xi'an Qujiang Filmmaking Group) and Xi'an Filmmaking Company, respectively.

Xi'an was the first city in China to be introduced to Islam. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty officially allowed the practice of Islam in 651 AD. Xi'an has a large Muslim community, the significant majority are from the Hui group, there are an estimated 50,000 Hui Muslims in Xi’an.[73] There are seven mosques in Xi'an, the best known being the Great Mosque.[74]

As part of the China Western Development policy, Xi’an became a major target for accelerated attention. From 1997 to 2006, the industrial output value of Xi’an’s service industry increased at an annual average rate of 13.74 percent, compared to traditional service industries of 0.74 percent, representing a growth from US$8.113 billion to US$25.85 billion.[75] Xi'an is the largest economy of the Shaanxi province, with a GDP of 324.1 billion Yuan in 2010. On average this value increases by 14.5 percent annually, and accounts for approximately 41.8 percent of Shaanxi's total GDP.[75][76] At least fifty-eight countries have established over 2,560 enterprises in Xian, including nineteen of the Fortune 500 enterprises. These include ABB Group, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Coca-Cola, and Boeing.[77]

Important industries include equipment manufacturing, tourism, and service outsourcing.[78] The manufacturing industry had an annual output of RMB 36.5 billion, accounting for 44.5 percent of the city's total.[76] Furthermore, as one of China's four ancient capitals,[79] Xi'an's many cultural sites, including the Terracotta Army, the City Wall of Xi'an, and the Famen Temple, make tourism an important industry as well. In 2010, 52 million domestic tourists visited Xi'an, earning a total income of RMB 40.52 billion. On average, revenue increases by 36.4 percent per year, and foreign-exchange earnings (530 million in 2009) increase by around 35.8 percent.[76]

Xi'an is also one of the first service outsourcing cities in China, with over 800 corporations in the industry. The city's output value from this sector exceeded RMB 23 billion in 2008. Employment in the sector doubled from 1997–2006, from a base of 60,000, and computer consulting also doubled from 16,000 to 32,000.[75] As a result of the importance of the software-outsourcing industry, the city planned construction of a Software New Town, which is scheduled to be completed in 2015 with 30 billion RMB investment.[76] Other major export goods include lighting equipment and automobile parts, while its major import goods are mechanical and electrical products. Internationally, Xi'an's largest trade partner is the United States.[76]

a daily average of 3.7 technology enterprises established in Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone in the year of 2005,from XINHUANET.com 7/28/2005[80] Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone has more than 16,000 enterprises which ranked second place in all the 88 hi-tech ZONES in China, achieved a total revenue of 522.223 billion yuan. It is worth mentioning that 13 enterprise's annual income is over a hundred billion yuan, 19 enterprise's annual income more than 50 billion, more than 265 enterprise earns over billion yuan each year, Listed companies at home and abroad have accumulated 50, of which the domestic A-share market issued 21 of them, accounting for more than 60% of the province; 4 GEM listed companies, ranking first in the Midwest high-tech zones.

The growing economy of Xi'an supports the development of a software industry, and the city is a pioneer in software industry in China.[citation needed]

A Silicon.com article describes Xi'an: "But Xi'an is selling on its own merits—with a large pool of cheap human resources from the 100 universities in the area, it hoovers up around 3,000 computer graduates every year, each earning approximately $120 a month—half the wages for the equivalent job in Beijing."[81][82]

In November 2006, Xi'an and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation jointly set up Xi'an Aerospace Science and Technology Industrial Base. From its establishment, the base has focused on the development of the civil space industry, including equipment manufacturing, software and service outsourcing, new materials and solar photovoltaics.

Apart from the core area, the base will cover Xi'an and the Guanzhong area and the expansion zone will reach other parts of Northwest China and Southwest China. It is expected that by 2012 the total industry output can reach 2.8 billion us dollars with about 10 to 20 brand products with intellectual property rights and 5 to 8 products with global competitiveness.

In 2008, after the launch of the initial aerospace centre in Shanghai, the PRC is constructing another civil aerospace centre in the Shaanxi province. The State Development and Reform Commission approved the planning of Xi'an National Civil Aerospace Industrial Base on December 26, 2007. The National Civil Aerospace Industrial Base of Xi'an, set to cover 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi), will focus on developing satellites, new materials, energies, IT and other technologies for civil applications.

Zhang Chaoyang (张朝阳), the CEO of SOHU (Nasdaq), born and raised in Xi'an, is a prominent leader in the Chinese Internet industry. Liu Chuanzhi, the founder and president of Lenovo Group Limited, completed his tertiary degree from Xidian University in the 1960s.

Xi’an was chosen to host the 2011 World Horticultural Exposition by the Association of International Producers of Horticulture (AIPH) at its 59th congress, held in Brighton, United Kingdom on September 4, 2007. The 2011 World Horti-Expo was held from April 28 to October 28, 2011. The exhibition was located in a new district of the city, Chanba district, and was expected to bring some 10 million visitors to Xi’an.[83]

Because of the city's many historical monuments and a plethora of ancient ruins and tombs in the vicinity,[1] tourism has been an important component of the local economy, and the Xi'an region is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.[1]

The city has many important historical sites, and some are ongoing archaeological projects, such as the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and his Terracotta Army. There are several burial mounds, tombs of the Zhou dynasty kings located in the city.[4] Xi'an also contains some 800 royal mausoleums and tombs from the Han dynasty,[84] with some of them yielding hundreds of sculpted clay soldiers, and remains of sacrificial temples from the Han era.[84] The city has numerous Tang dynasty pagodas and is noted for its history museum and its stele forest, which is housed in an 11th-century Confucian temple containing large stone tablets from various dynasties.[84]

Some of the most well-known sites in Xi'an are:

The city is surrounded by a well-preserved city wall which was re-constructed in the 14th century during the early Ming dynasty and was based on the inner imperial palace of Tang dynasty.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and Small Wild Goose Pagoda are both spectacular towers and both are well over 1,000 years old and have survived great earthquakes. The former is next to a large square with the largest fountain in Asia which projects water high into the air, rising and falling in time to music during one of the daily performances (usually at noon and soon after sunset). They protected Buddhist writings in the past.

The Stele Forest is famous for its numerous historic inscriptions and stoneworks

The Famen Temple and its towering pagoda located 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Xi'an

It was improved during the Tang dynasty (618–907). First of all, the feather-stuffed ball was replaced by an air-filled ball with a two-layered hull. Also, two different types of goalposts emerged: One was made by setting up posts with a net between them and the other consisted of just one goal post in the middle of the field. Chang'an was filled with cuju football fields, in the backyards of large mansions, and some were even established in the grounds of the palaces. The level of female cuju teams also improved. Records indicate that once a 17-year-old girl beat a team of army soldiers. Cuju football became popular among the scholars and intellectuals, and if a courtier lacked skill in the game, he could pardon himself by acting as a scorekeeper.